Western Regional Committee Webinar

1. Western Regional CommitteeWebinar March10, 2014 12pm MST

2. Who Are We?iNACOL Western Regional Committee • Chad Turley, Western Regional Chair • chad.turley@byu.edu • (801) 422-3127 • Scott Bullock, Western Regional Co-Chair • scott.bullock@wyo.gov • (307) 777-7418 • Lachelle Brant, Western Regional Recorder • lachelle.brant@wyo.gov • (307) 777-3679 • Rob Darrow, Ed.D., Director of Member Services • rdarrow@inacol.org • (703) 752-6216

3. Are you interested in presenting at one of the Western Regional Committee webinars?

4. Updates! March 2014 • Rob DarrowDirector of Member Services • rdarrow@inacol.org

5. Palm Springs, Ca – Nov. 4-7, 2014 • RFP now available until March 26: http://www.inacol.org/events/symposium/ • Registration available in April • Start planning now!

6. Topic Ideas • Successful models of blended learning • Global perspectives / projects in online courses • Program Design for online or blended schools • How does personalization look like? • State funding trends for online schools • Creating online content, what works? • Accreditation of online schools

7. Topic Ideas, Part 2 • Student motivation in the online modality. • Special education and online/blended programs, how does it work? • Ongoing Professional Development for online or blended teachers, what are effective practices?

8. Topic Ideas, Part 3 • Competency Based Education – what does this look like in an online school, in a blended school, in a face-to-face school? Teacher perspective / admin perspective / student perspective

9. Topic Ideas, Part 4 • Common Core and Online / Blended Courses • Next Generation Science and Implementation. • Tech and Science topics

10. Updates! Upcoming [FREE] Webinars • Leadership (March 12) – Observation and evaluation practices for online and blended learning teachers. • Research (March 18) – Socialization in online courses • Teacher Talk (March 20) – Online and blended learning teacher perspectives about observations and evaluations Register on the website (for anyone): http://www.inacol.org/events/webinars/

11. Updates! Past Webinars • Leadership – Feb. 12 : A K-12 Policy Framework for Competency Education: Building Capacity for Systems Change • Research (Feb. 18) – Learning to Learn Online: Introducing the Concept of Locus of Control to Help Students Become Successful Online Learners • Teacher Talk (Feb. 19) – Reaching Students with Disabilities **See the Members Forum or Resources section of the websites for links and slide decks.

12. Updates! New iNACOL Documents – Jan/Feb • Jan. 15: CompetencyWorks -- Progress and Proficiency: Redesigning Grading for Competency Education • http://bit.ly/progressandproficiency • Feb. 1: A K-12 Federal Policy Framework for Competency Education: Building Capacity for Systems Change (ESEA) • http://bit.ly/cwk12fedpolicy Documents on website: http://www.inacol.org/resources/publications/inacol-reports/

13. Updates! Join iNACOL’s Plugged In • Daily online and blended learning news updates • http://www.inacol.org/news/plugged-in/

14. Updates! • Other Questions, Input, Thoughts? • rdarrow@inacol.org

15. Influencing Policy Makers to Support Blended Learning Director Rich Crandall Wyoming Department of Education March 10, 2014

16. Who influences large-scale adoption of blended learning? School Principals District Superintendents School Board Members Governors State Education Agencies Lawmakers

17. Where do we begin? • Blended and online learning is the key to our future education success • Small pilot projects of 30-200 people are not going to get the job done • Too many policymakers are unfamiliar with blended learning • Too easy to make excuses • You as individual champions have a responsibility to educate others

18. What can principals do? • Great leadership can propel blended and online learning across a campus faster than any other thing • This is the most prevalent method used today to promote blended learning • Unfortunately, this will only effect hundreds and thousands, not hundreds of thousands • We need whole districts and states to promote blended learning

19. How do we influence Superintendents? • Remember they are very busy people • I have found one of the best methods is to take a deputy or asst. superintendent on a site visit • Let those in the inner circle be your advocates • Solve a district problem for the Superintendent • Early learning • Choice • Summer learning loss • Take a group to iNACOL

20. How do we influence School Board members? • Remember they are the Superintendent’s boss; but also, most do not have an education background • Have them visit your school • Take them to a National School Board Demonstration site • Show how district problems can be solved • Take a group to iNACOL

21. How do we influence Governors and State Education Agencies? • Remember, most agencies are not geared up or positioned to be ed reform incubators • There are a few good examples though • Idaho • Indiana • Florida • West Virginia • Focus on key staff • State personnel rules and budget constraints hamper innovation

22. State Lawmakers have the greatest potential? • They control the state budget • Only need a majority, not unanimous • Can promote a pilot or demonstration project • Can easily cross party lines with something like blended learning • Great examples of success in Utah, Florida, Pennsylvania • But how do we message…

23. The Arizona Senate 21 Republicans 9 Democrats 2 current school board members (one of whom was a teacher) 5 former school board members 1 charter operator 1 charter superintendent

24. Different Messaging This bill will allow us to fire the worst teachers This is the Teacher Eval trailer bill from last year Which way does the union want us to vote? How did Andy vote? I’m a no on all education bills? I’m a no unless it comes with $250 million

25. State Lawmakers have the Greatest Potential? • Keep your messaging simple • Students learn at different speeds • Students learn in different ways • Our results have been flat for many years • Today’s students are influenced by technology • Identify a lawmaker to be your champion • Find lawmakers with kids • Invite them to your school • Hit them up hard during reelection season

26. In Conclusion If not now, when? If not you, who?

27. Are you interested in presenting at one of the Western Regional Committee webinars?

28. 2013-14 Western Regional Committee Next Scheduled Meeting April 14, 2014 12pm MST

29. Chad Turley, Western Regional Chair • chad.turley@byu.edu • (801) 422-3127 • Scott Bullock, Western Regional Co-Chair • scott.bullock@wyo.gov • (307) 777-7418 • Lachelle Brant, Western Regional Recorder • lachelle.brant@wyo.gov • (307) 777-3679 • Rob Darrow, Ed.D., Director of Member Services • rdarrow@inacol.org • (703) 752-6216 www.inacol.wikispaces.com